"Twist and shout/Boobies hangin' all out," sings Scissor Sister Ana Matronic on the futuristic sci-fi funk of "Keep Your Shoes On," her robo-tastic chirp swallowed in a maze of mind-numbing video-game synth runs and digital blips. In our golden age of radio sterility, where every new Billboard smash offers the same flat, routine Euro-pop template of air-brushed synths and crank-it-to-11 dynamics (and where robots like Katy Perry are go-to sex-camp queens), we desperately need our reliably decadent Scissor Sisters to stir the pot and inject some danger into our iPods. And with "Keep Your Shoes On" (one of two sizzling bangers produced by the Neptunes), frontman Jake Shears and his androgynous electro divas bring the goods with hypnotic ease, teleporting us all to Studio 54 on Mars. For a while, Magic Hour — the band's fourth full-length — lives up to the promise of its hilarious, zebra-centric-2001: A Space Odyssey cover art. But the wheels fall off with "Year of Living Dangerously," a campy, aimless doodle not even rescued by its random violin solo. Gestures other than bitchiness don't suit these guys well — check "The Secret Life of Letters," a woefully straight ballad that's sonically rich but emotionally vacant. Where have all the boobies gone?

Various Artists | Casual Victim Pile: Austin 2010 The notion that regional musical flavors exist independently in American cities is quickly becoming an archaic truism, seeing as how the world really is a stage these days, at least in the digital sense.

Avi Buffalo | Avi Buffalo Look, I get it: the last thing we need right now is yet another band who can be described as “sun-baked,” “reverb-soaked,” or even just “psychedelic.” But Avi Buffalo (I know! An animal name to boot!) are worth your attention for a few reasons.

Ital | Hive Mind If there was a broken-record knock against electronic music in the last decade, it's that it all sounded the same.

Die Antwoord | Ten$ion Moreso than any "controversially-lipped" chanteuse (to borrow from one of Lana Del Rey's many observers), South African rap/rave/meme/satire/knuckleheads Die Antwoord beg the question:"Is that all there is?"

Cotton Mather | Kontiki [Deluxe Edition] When it was released in 1997, Cotton Mather's sophomore album racked up glowing critical huzzahs across the pond (not to mention big-ups from Oasis), yet dudded here in the States.

ATLAS GENIUS | WHEN IT WAS NOW | February 20, 2013 Atlas Genius are schooled students of modern pop architecture, seamlessly bouncing from Coldplay-styled acoustic rock to fizzy Phoenix funkiness to deadpanned Strokes-ian guitar chug. But When It Was Now is more like an alt-pop NOW compilation than a joyous synthesis.

FOALS | HOLY FIRE | February 11, 2013 Even at their most expansive, Foals are digging into more primal territory.